Once Were Warriors

Alan Duff is a New Zealand columnist, advocate, businessperson and the author of 11 novels. He is best known for his bestselling 1990 novel, Once Were Warriors, which won the PEN Best First Book for Fiction Award and was made into an internationally acclaimed film, for which Duff wrote the original screenplay. He subsequently wrote two sequels, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1996), which won the Montana New Zealand Book Award for Fiction, and Jake's Long Shadow (2002). Other works include the novel One Night Out Stealing and a novella State Ward as well as a non-fiction book Maori: The Crisis and the Challenge. Duff lives with his wife and four children in Havelock North, New Zealand.

Jay Laga'aia was born in Auckland, New Zealand and is one of Australasia's most accomplished actors. His television credits include Water Rats, Starstruck, Surprise Surprise and Play School. He has appeared in the films Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Star Wars Episodes II and III. Jay also has numerous theatre credits including Jesus Christ Superstar, West Side Story, The New Rocky Horror Show and The Lion King.